Growing up, Colin Fultz had hints that his grandfather was a bootlegger. His grandmother washed an inordinate number of jars. Old cars full of milk jugs were stored behind the house. But it wasn’t until he got older that he realized the long legacy of distilling in his family tree.
That history went back three generations, but it was his grandfather, Henry Holbrook of Whitesburg, who had the deepest connections. Holbrook lived during Prohibition and spent a total of 18 years in jail for running ’shine. Family legend says there used to be a picture of him with Al Capone from when they were locked up together in the Atlanta federal penitentiary, but it was destroyed in a house fire.
When Fultz heard about this family tradition, his interest was piqued. He bought equipment and started distilling in his garage and sharing the moonshine with family and friends. When his collection of “friends” began to number as many as the followers of a celebrity Facebook page, his wife said he needed to make a change. In 2015, Fultz established Kentucky Mist Distillery in downtown Whitesburg, where he produces and sells 14 kinds of moonshine, vodka and whiskey.
The historic brick structure, with soaring front windows, was originally a car dealership. The old display room is outfitted with a long bar, where guests can sample all of Kentucky Mist’s products (while keeping in mind the proof of the liquor and the necessity to drive home). Windows to the right reveal the distillery, where the fermenting and distilling magic happens.
Prominent in place is the still—a large copper vat topped with a towering column. Each of the 12 chambers holds a full distillation, where the liquid is changed to vapor. A small round window in each chamber allows a view of the process. Fultz is on a quest to make a cleaner drinking alcohol with fewer impurities than his ancestors could craft. He said the key is the proof of alcohol he is able to distill. His grandfather could make only 100-proof moonshine, but with modern technologies, Fultz is able to reach 160 proof.
Tinkering with Techniques
Thanks to the change in the times, Fultz has legitimized the family business. But he has retained some of the renegade spirit of his ancestors—not clinging to their techniques and recipes but forging his own path for Kentucky Mist. He is a tinkerer, always trying to make a better product, with his north star being what he himself likes to drink.
Take his whiskey, Ole Henry, named for his grandfather. Fultz was resistant to crafting a whiskey; he just doesn’t like to drink it very much. But customers kept clamoring for bourbon, so he finally decided not to fight the tide of consumer demand.
Still, Fultz has done it his way. The product is his take on bourbon, but it is not bourbon. The mash is made from sweet corn and sugar cane, offering up an unprocessed sweetness that melts on the tongue. “I don’t care what it is called; it tastes good,” Fultz said. He is not the only one who thinks so. Ole Henry is Kentucky Mist’s No. 1 selling product.
Fultz pointed out creative hacks he has developed in his years running Kentucky Mist: open-air stainless-steel tanks specially welded by a friend, long PVC pipes with small holes that perfectly filter the corn out of the mash, and homemade pallets that he and a co-worker resized to fit into their retail stores. He is an entrepreneur and said confidently but without arrogance: “I do things my way, not everyone else’s way.”
Fultz’s insistence on doing things his way has led to a collection of outstanding products. All the flavored liquors Kentucky Mist sells are natural, with one pound of real fruit infused into each bottle.
Kentucky Mist beverages consistently win at the prestigious SIP Awards, the only international spirit competition judged by consumers. The cranberry vodka and the Corn Mist moonshine have won gold, and this year, Ole Henry whiskey won a double gold. The Whitesburg 1902 Vodka is aged 18 months in previous Ole Henry barrels, and when Fultz entered it in the competition, the SIP Awards had to create a special category. It was the only bourbon barrel-aged vodka in the running.
Heading to the Beach
Marketing at the distillery also is unconventional. Wooing distributors as a small startup was a challenge. The off-the-beaten-path Whitesburg distillery doesn’t exactly have a flow of foot traffic. Online sales can only go so far when people haven’t tasted the product. As a result, sales languished for a few years after the distillery opened. Fultz was convinced that, if the store were somewhere else, it would do really well.
Turns out he was right. Kentucky Mist’s big break came in 2018, when a friend connected Fultz with the proprietors of Broadway at the Beach in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. This shopping and entertainment complex is the leading tourist attraction in South Carolina, with 14 million annual visitors. And Kentucky Mist, a small brand with a unique product, was exactly what the Broadway at the Beach owners were looking for. The Kentucky Mist retail store offers tastings, cocktails and bottles to take home.
Two more beach destination stores have since opened—at Barefoot Landing in North Myrtle Beach and at The Wharf in Orange Beach, Alabama. Kentucky Mist products are available only at local venues, the four stores and via online order.
Rooted in Kentucky
While many Kentucky Mist beverages are now sold outside the state, the business continues to be based in Kentucky. The products are made in the Whitesburg distillery and transported to the stores. The corn is processed to the distillery’s specifications by sixth-generation Kentucky business Weisenberger Mill of Midway. Many of the items in Kentucky Mist’s gift line, such as T-shirts, are printed locally.
And then there are the recipes. Apple Pie Moonshine is the distillery’s most popular flavored product. Fultz kept tweaking the recipe but just couldn’t get it right—that is, until he saw the apple pies his aunt was selling for church and got her recipe. The pie spice mix was perfect.
The Grape Moonshine originally was flavored with store-bought juice, but Fultz kept searching for a better recipe. He found it when a friend picked his mother’s Concord grapes and brought them over. This had to stay a secret, though; even though she wasn’t eating the grapes herself, the mother would never approve of them being used to make alcohol.
The next big thing for Kentucky Mist will be right here at home. Now that it is legal in Kentucky to sell samples, drinks and bottles at events, Fultz and his team are building a drink truck. He anticipates it will be up and running for the fall festival season, ready to serve slushies and mixed drinks across the Commonwealth.
When asked about his inspiration for the truck, and so many more of his inventive ideas and hacks, Fultz smiled and answered exactly as you might expect a fourth-generation distiller would. “Most of my ideas come to me after I drink some,” he said.
Hillbilly Sunrise
Kentucky Mist’s most popular cocktail combines lemonade with the intense strawberry flavor of infused moonshine.
2 ounces Kentucky
Mist Infused Strawberry Moonshine
4 ounces freshly squeezed lemonade
Splash of grenadine
Club soda
Lemon wedge for garnish
Strawberry slices
for garnish
Combine first four ingredients in a cocktail shaker with ice or stir with ice in a large glass. Pour over fresh ice and garnish with a lemon wedge and strawberry.